I find it hilarious that I'm taking the relationship slow and people demand that they get together already, haha! You guys. XD

Warnings; talk of noncon, slash, violence, smut (eventually)

~~~~Line Breaker~~~~~

After half an hour of watching Bruce and Tony struggling to get blood and then when Loki himself cut his skin open for them, they couldn't make heads or tails of the blood-samples, the god finally decided to have mercy and explain why exactly it wouldn't work. Besides the fact that, well, he was a God. He tried not to show how amused by everything he was.

"So, what else doesn't hurt you?" Tony asked, looking over the pile of bent needles. "Can scissors cut your hair, can you stub your toe, what?"

Loki frowned, trying to recall. "When I first arrived, Shield shot me a couple times. The bullets did nothing."

Bruce frowned at that, looking a mixture of disturbed and curious. "Don't tell Natasha."

"What did it feel like? I mean, we can wear you out, but you don't really ever get hurt unless it's Thor, which I kinda get, you're both gods. But you're not Asgardian, so either both races are really fucking durable or us humans are screwed."

"It feels a bit like having a bug hit you." the god replied, grinning when the two humans groaned. "Your race is still young, though. It has much to learn, given you have not had any interaction with the other realms."

"...Pedophile."

"Anyway," Bruce cut in, glaring at his friend. "It looks like the blue is fading."

Loki looked at his hand, seeing that the ridges in his skin were beginning to lower and the blue was paling. He sighed in relief, ignoring Tony's disappointed look. He could feel his magic returning, like a burst of heat through his veins. That also meant he could handle Hammer when Shield found him.

"Is that everything you needed, Doctor?" Loki asked.

Bruce nodded. "I think so, since we can't do much..."

Without another word, the god gently took Tony's shoulder and teleported them from the lab into the billionaire's room. He chuckled when he heard the other curse about warnings, allowing him to pull away.

"At least I did not carry you this time."

Tony glared at him. "You're a dick. But, I had a bit of a request now that you have your magic back; kinda wanted to ask you if there was anyway you can like...stop me from dreaming."

"You mean the nightmares." the trickster muttered, eyes hardening. "They have been getting worse...?"

He made a face. "Kinda." Seeing the expression Loki pulled, he sighed. "Yeah, they have. And since we're currently just waiting for an opportunity to take down Hammer, I don't want to get kicked out of our little revenge club because the others think I can't handle it."

"And if you can't?" Loki muttered. "What if you freeze up, Stark? What if you get captured again? Are you prepared for that?"

He gave a dry smile. "That's why you're there though. Just in case. After all, I'm probably gonna need your help in keeping the team off of me for when I do find Hammer. Because the guys who physically...'attacked' me, you took care of so that means I get Hammer. They're not gonna like what I do."

He shifted nervously at the way the god eyed him; while he loved the blue skin, he much preferred the green eyes. Unless they were examining him like that.

"It will not happen anyway." Loki said, smirking at his confusion. "Him capturing you again. Whether I am there or not, I would not allow it. I swore that to you."

Tony nodded, pretending he didn't notice the way his body seemed to relax. "So then, is this...permanent?" He motioned to the both of them. "Like, once Hammer is taken care of, we lock up Ross, what then? Are you going to stay here, gonna try your hand at killing us again, gonna join the Avengers? I just need to know whether I should redecorate my room or not."

Loki surprised him by placing a hand gently on his cheek, making sure that the touch was welcome and not going to send him into a breakdown. "You are mine, Stark. I have not decided what I might do but that will not change."

The billionaire nodded, reaching out and grabbing the god by his sides, heart racing. "I, I might freak out a little, but...I really, really wanna kiss you now."

The god raised an eyebrow, eying him wearily. "Are you sure?"

He nodded, snorting. "Like hell am I missing an opportunity like this."

It was irritating that Loki had to lean down for him to kiss him, the god had almost a full foot on him, but it was worth it; Loki's skin was cold but his mouth was soft and almost contrastingly warm. Still; he had to remind himself to breathe, that Loki was not someone who would hurt him (which was an odd thing to think and even odder that it was true) but that didn't stop him from tensing up or his hands from trembling. I am not going to have flashbacks, dammit. Not now.

He relaxed once he felt himself being pulled into a tight embrace, hiding his face into Loki's armor. He was angry at himself for being like this when he had been the one to initiate it, he was ashamed that he was supposed to be a hero and he was so relieved that the silver tongued liesmith wasn't saying anything about it.

"Was there a reason for that?" Loki asked him, sounding a mixture of amused and soothing.

Tony shrugged the best he could. "Been wanting to."

"Don't rush." Tony cursed when he felt his legs being lifted off the ground, punching the god in the chest. "I am not going anywhere, Stark."

"Stop. Doing that." he hissed, rubbing his now bruised knuckles.

"I would if you did not make such a fuss about it." Loki said, all but throwing the human on to the bed. "Now, hold still."

He gave him a weary look. "Why?"

The trickster rolled his eyes. "Because this spell is delicate and if you do not hold still, I might accidentally put you into a coma."

He placed a hand on Tony's forehead, who had then stiffened up, eyes glowing briefly. In a matter of seconds, the billionaire fell asleep, eyes rimmed in a green glow until he woke up. Knowing that he wouldn't have nightmares, Loki left, hesitating only a moment before teleporting away.

~~~~~~~~~~Line Breaker~~~~~~~~

"The guards are shifting again." Clint whispered into his headset, easily overlooking the change from up in the rafters. "Every three hours. How are the locks?"

"Better than expected but it has nothing on Stark's." Natasha's voice came through the comms. He heard rustling, meaning she was in one of the other labs and looking through papers. "I keep finding Blue Prints. I'm taking pictures to send over, I can't make heads or tails of any of them...But they have Hammer's logo all over them."

The archer was going to respond but stopped, aware of eyes on him. Slowly, he reached for a knife in his boot before turning, easily jumping to a new rafter to get some distance. He froze when Loki grinned back, cursing and putting the knife away.

"What do you want?" He would ask how he got here, but probably didn't want to know.

Loki glanced over at the guards, apparently at home leaning against a pillar of wood. It looked rather uncomfortable. "Curiosity, Agent Barton. I was wondering what you and Ms. Romanov were doing and decided to check."

Clint rolled his eyes. "Well, now you know. Can you leave? Kinda busy here."

He was ignored. Not that he was surprised. "The rest of the team is under the impression that General Ross and Justin Hammer are trying to destroy your Hulk...What do you think, Barton?"

"You really wanna know? Why?" He asked suspiciously. He scowled when he only got a mocking smirk in reply. "Ross knows what the Hulk can do better than any of us. Except maybe Tony. I don't think he's under the impression that Hammer can do anything to him, not on his own...Just, been trying to figure out what the hell you have to do with it."

The god made a noise of agreement, frowning. "What do you plan on doing when we find them both?"

"Take em down. Probably 'accidentally' leave Hammer alone with Tony." Clint shrugged at the look he received. "I know that Tony isn't telling us something about what happened; something that made you two close enough that you're sitting here, pretending to like us just to make sure he's okay. Whatever the hell that is, it deserves some kind of revenge."

Loki grinned, nodding. "You are far more perspective than your comrades are led to believe."

"And listening to you talk gives me a headache." Clint shot. "Look, is there a reason you're having this conversation with me? Can't you go talk to Natasha or Coulson?"

The trickster shook his head, standing up and easily balancing despite the armor and leather. "I do not trust their input as much as yours, Agent Barton."

Clint stared at him, gaping. "...Why?"

"Because I have seen inside your heart. I know I can trust what is inside."

He was then gone. Right, Loki could apparently teleport. Good to know. Sighing, the archer reached to grab his other comm set to let Coulson know about the little chat but hesitated. Suddenly, he decided he'd rather keep that last little bit to himself.

"...Fucking Norse gods."

~~~~~~Line Breaker~~~~~~~~~~

Tony woke up to the sound of knocking. It took him awhile to recognize the noise; he was groggy and his mouth felt dry and like he'd swallowed a handful of cotton balls. Still, he hadn't woken up in the middle of the night thanks to that spell Loki had put him under and that was something. So, he called for the door to open as he forced himself up.

"Tony!" Thor called, strolling into his room. "Steven has asked me to get you for breakfast. Also, do you know the whereabouts of my brother?"

It took the billionaire a minute before he pieced together that he was being asked a question. "Uh...he was here when I fell asleep but...I dunno. Jarvis?"

"Mr. Laufeyson is not in the tower, sir. He left after you fell asleep."

Glancing at the blond god, he shrugged. "Not here."

Thor frowned at this, easily pulling the shorter man to his feet. "I am surprised that my brother left you here...especially without explanation."

"I don't need a constant babysitter, he knows that." Tony muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Can we please eat and then we can worry about it? I'm starving."

"Side effect, I am afraid."

Tony almost jumped when Loki appeared next to him, green eyes looking almost concerned. "Sonova-! Fuck, don't do that!"

Loki grinned. "Forgive me, I did not mean to startle you. But it is a side effect of the spell I gave you, since it uses your own energy to work. Hence why I was unneeded."

"Where were you, Brother?" Thor asked, looking curious. He didn't seem bothered by the thought of Loki using his magic on Tony. Great. "The Son of Coul was asking for you."

"I merely visited Agent Barton to inquire about their progress." Loki muttered, brushing pass the Asgardian with Tony in wake. "Hurry up, Thor, I do not want to keep Stark waiting for your dull questions."

Thor pouted but did so, trailing after them. Tony grinned. His life was so weird. He raised an eyebrow when he entered the kitchen, surprised to see Coulson sitting there next to Steve. Bruce was drinking coffee at the counter, dark rings under his eyes. Apparently he hadn't slept well last night.

"Glad to see you back with us, Loki." Coulson greeted. "Barton apparently didn't appreciate the surprise visit. And you're no longer blue."

Loki shrugged. "I can change forms at will. Your agents were taking their time, so I wanted to see their progress myself."

"You...you can change forms whenever?" Tony asked, eyes wide. "Wow. And it's not even my birthday."

"Tony." Steve said warningly, pointing at a plate. "Eat. Don't talk."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yes, Mom. Are you gonna give me my lunch money too?"

"After your visit, we made contact with Hammer." Coulson explained, immediately drawing everyone's attention. "He and Ross showed up together. From what Barton could overhear, they're making something big. Romanov took pictures of the blue prints and sent them over."

Nodding, Tony brought forth a floating screen in front of him, bringing up the pictures Natasha had sent them. He threw them up, making them big enough that everyone could see. He and Bruce both stilled, taking in the structure.

"Is this..."

"It's a chamber...I think," Bruce removed his glasses, getting up from his seat. "I think it's a molecular decoder...No, the chemistry doesn't add up."

"Can we get this in English?" Steve asked.

Tony frowned. "Basically, we don't know exactly. But, if this is on a molecular level, it could be he's trying to force the radiation from Bruce's cells."

"That would part him from the Hulk?" Thor questioned, sounding concerned.

"We don't know." The billionaire answered. "After looking at his blood, we can't find what exactly is causing the change. Ross is probably getting desperate since Bruce is getting a lot of positive attention as an Avenger."

Bruce sighed. "It could be something else though. The amount of power he'd need for a Decoder like that..." He shook his head. "It's not possible at our current technology."

"What else could it be?" Coulson asked.

The two scientists shared a look, Tony shrugging before he answered. "Well, it has a chamber, so it could be a Container, but the dimensions seem wrong. Unless it's coded. Gas chamber, a teleporter, hell, maybe he's trying to recreate the Hulk or the Super Soldier serum. We don't know by just this."

"We need to get to them before they can make it." Steve said. "We can't just let them making it, especially if we don't know what it does."

"Are you planning on having your agents attack them?" Loki asked Coulson, green eyes narrowing. "You do not believe we would allow that, would you?"

Coulson shook his head. "We'll need the entire team for it. Ross is unpredictable and Hammer could have more weapons waiting for us. I'll speak with Fury about when we can move in."

"Progress." Tony grinned, going back to his food. "Anything else we should know about?"

"My presence is needed back in Asgard." Thor spoke up, glancing over at Loki. "My Father has fallen into the Odin sleep, and I must look after things with my mother."

Steve frowned, putting on his best Leader Face. "Maybe we should wait until you get back then..."

"That will not be necessary." Loki answered dryly. "Stark and I will deal with Hammer, you take care of Ross. Barton and Romanov can ensure we are alone."

"Brother..." Thor started but decided against whatever he was going to say. "Whatever you decide I will abide by. I leave tonight."

"We'll decide later." Coulson said, preparing to leave. "Expect to hear from me or Director Fury tonight."

~~~~~~Line Breaker~~~~~~~

This chapter seriously jumps around. O.o

I had a bit of trouble with this one, so I apologize for the wait. And I had a friend look some of it over; I didn't want to make it seem like the romance was completely out of nowhere. XD

I love you guys.

MRIMO